Wes Elwin had absolutely no interest in dealing with the Ministry of Magic.
When Fudge and Umbridge finally left, Wes wore a look of deep dissatisfaction.
"Please don't ever drag me into something like that again," he said. "It's a complete waste of time."
Dumbledore didn't respond to Wes's complaint right away. Instead, he slowly placed The Book of the Dead on the table. Its sudden appearance instantly captured Wes's attention.
"You entrusted me with Voldemort's Horcrux before," Dumbledore said, stroking his long beard. "That means we're on the same side. I imagine you've already made some progress in Ancient Egyptian. By now, you should be able to understand this book."
Wes nodded. There were still a few obscure characters he didn't recognize, but with some educated guesses, he could roughly make sense of it.
He carefully tucked The Book of the Dead into his cloak, then bid Dumbledore a quick farewell.
Dumbledore remained in his seat, sipping his wine with an air of unhurried calm. Watching Wes walk away, he seemed already to foresee the results of Wes's future research.
Wes was an exceptionally gifted scholar. Given enough time and resources, he was bound to achieve something remarkable.
As for Sirius Black, once his wanted status was revoked, most people assumed he had been captured again by the Ministry, and so no one paid much attention to him anymore.
But Sirius could no longer contain himself—he was desperate to meet Harry in person. At first, Harry was shocked and skeptical. But once Dumbledore and Lupin vouched for Sirius, the boy couldn't hold back and threw himself into Sirius's arms.
They clung to each other, laughing and crying, a scene that could bring tears to anyone's eyes.
However, since Sirius's name had not yet been fully cleared, he could not gain custody of Harry. This was a deep disappointment for them both.
Even so, this was the happiest year of Harry's life. Not only had he mastered the advanced magic of the Patronus Charm, he had also gained a godfather who loved him dearly. Professor Lupin had become "Uncle Lupin," and with the Firebolt's help, Harry had won the House Cup. He even felt that his life was already complete.
When the final exams ended, Wes had originally planned to return to the old Black family home with Sirius—until an unexpected change of plans made him reconsider.
---
1926, Cairo, Egypt
Here, countless mosques rose into the sky, their tall, distinctive minarets earning Cairo the title of The City of a Thousand Minarets. The Muhammad Ali Mosque atop the Citadel of Saladin stood out as especially magnificent. The city's architecture blended ancient traditions with modern elements, creating a truly unique landscape.
Inside the National Library of Egypt, Wes was consulting with a woman whose appearance combined both British refinement and Arabic features. Her name was Evelyn, a senior researcher at the library and an expert in Ancient Egyptian.
"Miss Evelyn, I'm truly grateful for your guidance—your Ancient Egyptian is outstanding," Wes said warmly, his praise sincere enough to make Evelyn's face light up with delight.
"I didn't expect Mr. Elwin to be so young and yet so interested in Ancient Egyptian," she said, looking at him with admiration.
"And Miss Evelyn is young as well, isn't she?" Wes replied.
"That's because of my father," she said. "He was utterly fascinated by Egyptian history, which is why we moved here from Britain…" Evelyn went on at length, speaking with enthusiasm—until she suddenly realized she might have been talking too much. She quickly apologized to Wes.
Wes smiled and shook his head, indicating it was fine. Noticing the sun beginning to set and the sky darkening, he politely took his leave.
Evelyn couldn't help feeling a little disappointed that Wes hadn't invited her to dinner.
Wes strolled through the streets of early 20th-century Cairo, quietly calculating in his mind.
'The plot of the first Mummy movie is a bit hazy, but as long as I stick with Evelyn, I should definitely be able to find the Book of the Sun and the Book of the Dead.'
That's right—Wes had now arrived in a new world: The Mummy.
It was such an old film that Wes had already forgotten most of the story.
All he remembered was that the heroine worked in a library. Luckily, in early 20th-century Cairo, there weren't many libraries—and the only one with a beautiful librarian was right here.
At first, Wes had simply planned to keep an eye on Evelyn, but he unexpectedly discovered that she had an exceptionally deep mastery of Ancient Egyptian.
When Evelyn saw Wes reading a book about Ancient Egyptian, she took the initiative to start a conversation and even corrected many of his grammatical and pronunciation mistakes.
So Wes hired her as his private tutor. A librarian's salary wasn't high, and few people came to read at the library, so Evelyn was delighted to have such a side job.
If there were rankings, Evelyn's Ancient Egyptian would be at expert level, whereas Wes was only just getting started.
A few days later, on his way to the library, Wes ran into a hurried Evelyn, who was accompanied by a roguish-looking man.
Wes's heart stirred. The plot has begun.
He stepped forward and greeted her, "Evelyn."
"Wes."
After spending a few days together, the two had grown familiar and no longer spoke with the politeness of strangers.
Jonathan, seeing his sister so well-acquainted with a young, handsome man, couldn't help but assume they were in a relationship. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
One glance at Jonathan's expression, and Evelyn knew exactly what he was thinking. She rolled her eyes at him and said, "This is Wes, an Ancient Egyptian enthusiast." Then, turning to Wes, she added, "Wes, this is my brother Jonathan."
The two men shook hands amiably.
"You two really aren't seeing each other?" Jonathan sounded a little disappointed. "Evelyn's a great catch…"
"Jonathan!!" Evelyn's cheeks flushed crimson, and she hurried to cut him off.
"All right, your loss," Jonathan said with a shrug.
"Evelyn, where are you headed?" Wes asked, feigning curiosity. "I was actually planning to go to the library with you—I have some questions I wanted to ask."
"We discovered…" Evelyn, speaking without thinking, blurted out the story of how they had found a map to Hamunaptra, only for it to be accidentally burned by the curator.
Wes immediately looked intrigued. "That sounds fascinating—could you take me along?"
"No way!" Jonathan jumped in at once, pulling Evelyn aside to whisper, "The fewer people involved in this, the bigger our share of the treasure."
"I'm not interested in treasure," Wes said, which made Evelyn look a little embarrassed. Jonathan, however, didn't believe him for a second. In his view, no one could resist the lure of gold.
"You're going to need funding to get to Hamunaptra, right? Do you have enough budget?" Wes's question made both Jonathan and Evelyn look awkward.
Evelyn was just a library employee; her salary barely covered her living expenses.
Jonathan was a freelancer with great thieving skills, operating in the grey areas of the law—hardly the type to have spare cash lying around.
Seeing their predicament, Wes offered, "I can fund this expedition. I'm only interested in the history and culture of Ancient Egypt. I won't interfere with your plans."
Evelyn hesitated, then turned to Jonathan, hoping for his agreement.
°°°
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